NEX:GEN Activate Book One

Section Seven

Lei Leighton

Standing in the middle of a room, she looked down at her fans. The woman with white hair and the soulless grey eyes, wore a silver dress over her porcelain body. She stood at the bottom of the staircase. The staircase arched up to the balcony behind her. The woman saw her fans standing before her. They envied what she had.

A smile sparked around her face. She took a step away from the platform. The woman standing before them, was not the girl she felt inside.

Singing with her lips moving gently, she looked down at a girl. She saw the girl's white hair and grey eyes. She was filled up with life, which the woman never felt in her lifetime. Taking a step away from the platform.

The song had come to an end. She walked back to the curtains lining the edge behind her. The woman knew what the girl was doing. She was playing a role.

Behind her, the girl saw someone she admired. Someone she was craving to become. She saw someone with all the power in the world. And she wanted to know what that was like. But the truth was, even she had a fear.

Walking behind the curtain, the woman headed away from where she stood. She felt each footstep she took. She made her way to the back of the stage. Her eyes met with her manager. She only saw her as an item, like most of the people in her life.

A way for them to get rich and bath in her glory. They had none for themselves, so they had to take a piece of hers.

The woman kept her fake smile onto her face. She needed to keep up an appearance around the help. Her crew had no idea how much she wished she could be normal. Even for just one night.

In the corner of her eyes, she saw her. Someone who knew the real her. She knew what she saw, wouldn't matter to her. She saw her before the lights touched her skin. Before the song left her lips. Before she became a superstar, living an endless dream.

The woman walked towards her door. She placed her hand onto the handle. Opening the door, to get away from the fake world around her.

Walking into her dressing room, the woman let the door close behind her. She saw the person, once more. In the mirror before her, she made her way towards them. She saw what the mirror really was. A way for her to get back to her old life. A way for her to escape the world around her.

Placing her hands onto the countertop before her. The woman saw herself in her reflection. She saw how her eyes were tired below the makeup. How with each smile she put on her face, the wrinkles around her face were starting to show. And how she wanted out. She wanted to leave her glamorous life. She wanted to go back to how things were before.

The woman wanted to go back to her boring life. She wanted to have a second to go back to when she could sit back. Take a red cup in her hand full of cheap champagne. She would toss the red cup with her real friends towards the clouded sky. Back then, she would only dream of what her life could have been like. But she had no idea what it would become.

Looking at the girl she was before, the woman let a sign slither over her lips. She heard a knock on her door. She knew the crowd outside, looking at the stage and wanted an encore. But she had no energy to make their dream happen.

"Not tonight." She told her manager on the other side of the door. "I told you, Dallas was the last time."

"Come on." The woman's ears perked. She heard the sound of a stranger's voice, coming from behind her dressing room door. "Not even for me."

"I'm afraid not." She guessed her manager made one of the other crew members speak with her.

The sound of the door opening, echoed through the room. She felt her heart racing in her chest. The woman took a deep breath in. She looked at the door, behind her reflection in the mirror.